Marcus Middleton couldn’t recall much from his two long touchdowns that helped lead Stoughton High School to an emotional 20-0 victory over Foxboro on Friday night.

The senior running back had only one thing on his mind.

David Wade.

“I honestly can’t even tell you what we’ve been going through, what we were feeling, what we were thinking,” he said. “All we know is we wanted to come out, we wanted to do this for Dave.

“Dave would have wanted us to do that and all we wanted to do is get the win for him.”

Wade, a 17-year old senior defensive lineman for the Black Knights, sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest on Saturday afternoon in an apparent accidental shooting by his older brother in their basement.

Less than eight hours after the entire team attended his funeral, saying goodbye to a friend and teammate, Stoughton accomplished the only thing it set out to do.

“We knew that the only way we were going to get through this is being as a team, being together,” Middleton said. “We dedicated the season, the game, everything we have, just to Dave. He deserved it.”

Stoughton coach Greg Burke couldn’t imagine a more fulfilling ending to a trying and tragic week.

“This is like heaven. This is like heaven for the kids,” Burke said. “They deserved this, for Dave. That’s all they care about. They don’t care about themselves. Not one kid on our team cares about who scored today. All they said is, ‘Coach, we’re going to get it done.’

“I’m very very impressed with our kids and we deserved to win tonight,” he added. “It’s wicked hard, wicked hard. There’s no other thing on Earth that anybody can think of that’s worse than burying a teenager.”

On a night when football took a back seat to life, and Stoughton’s 5-0 start lost in the heartbreak of the devastating situation, Wade was the focus, remembered by many for his work ethic and dedication to the team.

“It was really challenging but we got over it, because this game was for Dave,” said Wade’s close friend and senior linebacker Andrew Kelley. “Every single play we were out there, we were just thinking, ‘Dave, Dave. He’s going to help us push through.’

“And we were able to push Foxboro back and honestly, we just blew them away.”

Kelley and senior linebacker Adam Leonard carried Wade’s black jersey, bearing the No. 56, to the center of the field for the coin toss before a moment of silence.

With Wade’s jersey and helmet on the bench, in front of a massive sellout crowd, many donning T-shirts honoring Wade’s memory, the Black Knights remembered their fallen teammate the best way they knew how.

Page 2 of 3 - “It’s mixed emotions,” Kelley said. “I was a little confused at first because I was down, but then I realized that Dave wouldn’t be. If something happened to us, Dave would want the best for the team and he would want the game to be for us. He’d go as hard as he can. And that’s exactly what we all did, as a team.

“It was hard for everyone. As a community, we all feel it,” he added. “It’s going to be rough, but we’ll overcome it and we will have Dave in our heart forever.”

Burke asked his team on Sunday if they wanted to move the game, still not knowing when the funeral would be.

Not a chance, they said.

“That wasn’t an option, because David wanted us to play this game,” said senior Aaron Mack. “He would have been on the field for us. We had to do it for him. He would have been there for us, so we had to be there for him.

“We played this game for 56, Dave Wade.”

Stoughton slowed a strong Foxborough (3-2) rushing attack, featuring 6-foot, 185-pound senior Kiivone Howard, who had already scored 12 touchdowns this season and surpassed 100 yards on the ground in every game.

The Black Knights bottled him up early and often on Friday, never letting him break free until the Warriors were already trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

“We were able to make him cut inside and that’s not where he wants to be,” Kelley said. “We made it difficult for him.”

Middleton scored on a 40-yard run on Stoughton’s opening possession for a quick 7-0 lead that lasted deep into the second quarter.

After Mack fumbled near Foxboro’s goal line, the Black Knights forced one of their own three plays later, the loose ball scooped up by senior Imani Pina for a 14-0 edge with 13 seconds remaining in the first half.

Senior quarterback Dan Eckler later found Middleton streaking down the middle of the field for a 67-yard touchdown that stretched the lead to 20-0 with eight minutes to play.

“You got to give the Stoughton kids all the credit in the world. That was a tough week for them,” said Foxboro coach Jack Martinelli. “I knew they were a good football team before any tragedy. I was hoping we would weather a storm early and put something together, but they were pretty hungry and they’re pretty talented.”

Stoughton is still perfect, tied with Sharon atop the Hockomock League Davenport Division standings, and it’s hard to imagine the Black Knights will face a more challenging situation than the one they endured on Friday.

Page 3 of 3 - “We’re going to look for a perfect season,” Kelley said. “I’m not saying that I’m going for a perfect 10-0, but we’re taking it one game at a time.

“And through those games Dave’s going to be there. It’s going to be all about Dave.”